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Cortical changes in the brain of patients with hemifacial spasm

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Abstract

Objective

Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions on one side of the face. It is associated with disturbances in the brain’s functional architecture. Despite this, the structural alterations in the brain related to HFS remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the cortical morphology changes in patients with HFS compared to healthy controls (HCs).

Methods

We analyzed 3D T1-weighted MRI images from 33 patients with left-sided primary HFS and 33 age- and sex-matched HCs. Measurements of cortical thickness (CTh), sulcal depth, local gyrification index (lGI), and fractal dimension were taken using a computational anatomy toolbox. A general linear model, accounting for age, gender, and total brain volume, was applied for statistical analyses. Significant clusters were then assessed for correlations with clinical parameters.

Results

The HFS patients displayed several cortical abnormalities when compared to HCs, including reduced CTh in the contralateral precentral gyrus and left orbitofrontal cortex, decreased sulcal depth in the left orbitofrontal cortex, and increased lGI in the right insula and superior temporal cortex. However, fractal dimension did not differ significantly between the groups. Additionally, in HFS patients, a notable negative correlation was found between the sulcal depth in the left orbitofrontal cortex and the Beck Depression Inventory-II scores.

Conclusions

Our findings reveal that HFS is associated with specific surface-based morphological changes in the brain. These alterations contribute to a deeper understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in HFS and may have implications for future research and treatment strategies.

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Data availability

Data are available upon reasonable requests of collaboration.

Code availability

None.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants in this study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Zheng Li and Fei Xiong contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Zheng Li, Feng Gao & Ye Tu

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Geriatric Anesthesia and Perioperative Brain Health, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Zheng Li, Feng Gao & Ye Tu

  3. Wuhan Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Anesthesia, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Zheng Li, Feng Gao & Ye Tu

  4. Department of Radiology, PLA Central Theater General Hospital, Wuhan, China

    Fei Xiong

  5. Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Buwei Yu

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  1. Zheng Li
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  2. Fei Xiong
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  3. Feng Gao
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Correspondence to Ye Tu.

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This research was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Li, Z., Xiong, F., Gao, F. et al. Cortical changes in the brain of patients with hemifacial spasm. Neurol Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-024-07353-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-024-07353-7

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